Chapter 55: The Verge of History

On the Schiavona, Bassander Lin demands Hadrian’s arrest for treason, but Tribune Raine Smythe insists Hadrian remains useful until after negotiations with the approaching Cielcin. She reveals a second translator, scholiast Tor Varro, will lead, with Hadrian assisting. Tanaran has been returned to Imperial custody, and Smythe plans to question the Cielcin alone.

Discussing leverage, Smythe notes Kharn Sagara has locked down the Mistral. Hadrian argues the crew may be more useful under Kharn’s eye if they can be extracted quickly. He warns Kharn is planning something and that the leak of Vorgossos’s coordinates likely came from Kharn’s daimon, not Kharn himself.

Pressed to describe the daimon, Hadrian recounts a grotesque, many-bodied entity that seems to subsume human beings. Shaken, Smythe concludes Vorgossos must be destroyed. Lin scoffs at Kharn’s chances against the Legions, but Smythe halts the argument and orders Hadrian and Lin to set aside their feud.

After dismissing Lin, Smythe privately confronts Hadrian about the trouble he has caused but tacitly approves his resolve to pursue the mission. She and Crossflane speak openly of their hope for peace. Smythe returns Hadrian’s sword—recovered via Lin from Sagara—and releases him to his people.

Before he leaves, Smythe tells Hadrian to have Captain Corvo prepare the Mistral’s crew, acknowledging they may be needed if events turn, as the Cielcin’s arrival looms.